Staff

WC Sin did her postdoctoral training at the Institute of Molecular & Cell Biology in Singapore and at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York. She spent a few years in a New York biotechnology company that specializes in cancer gene discovery before continuing her research at UBC, focusing on the role of inflammation in brain cancer development. She is involved in the functional characterization of autism associated gene variants in the lab since October 2017.

Warren joined the lab in 2016 after completing his Master's degree under Dr. Geoffrey Hammond at UBC. As a specialist in biochemistry and cell biology, his main role in the Haas Lab is to develop high throughput tools and cell line-based screening platforms to characterize gene variants associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Warren is also part of our core team involved in the selection and prioritization of ASD-associated gene variants for the Pacific Autism Research Group.

DK is currently a PhD student in the Haas Lab. DK is investigating how seizures alter dendritogenesis and synaptogenesis by directly imaging developing neurons during experimentally induced seizures within the intact and awake brain.

Tristan investigates how growing neurons in developing vertebrate brains integrate synaptic input and encode information in an action potential output, and how these integration and encoding properties change with experience across the entire dendritic arbor. To be able to record the different patterns of activity across the entire 3D space of neuron, he employs a verity of genetically encoded biosensors and images individual neurons in Xenopus tadpoles in vivo using a custom built acousto-optics based random-access two-photon laser-scanning microscope system.

Sina works on two major projects. The first project is to study the effects of Early-Life Seizures (ELSs) on the developing brain, which largely involves immunohistochemistry, 2-photon and confocal imaging, and associated analysis. The second project is a high-throughput study of the effects of genetic mutations associated with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) on protein structure and function. This project involves the growth, maintenance, and genetic manipulation of large-scale cell culture assays.